Microbial Community Structure Driven by a Volcanic Gradient in Glaciers of the Antarctic Archipelago South Shetland

It has been demonstrated that the englacial ecosystem in volcanic environments is inhabited by active bacteria. To know whether this result could be extrapolated to other Antarctic glaciers and to study the populations of microeukaryotes in addition to those of bacteria, a study was performed using...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: García López, Eva, Serrano, S., Ángel Calvo, M., Peña Pérez, S., Sánchez Casanova, S., García Descalzo, L., Cid, Cristina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.INTA Repositorio Digital del Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.inta.es:20.500.12666/479
Acceso en línea:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/9/2/392/htm
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12666/479
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cryosphere Microbiome
16S/18S rRNA High Throughput Sequencing
Glacier
Biodiversity
Ecology
Antarctica
Biogeochemistry
Astrobiology
Descripción
Sumario:It has been demonstrated that the englacial ecosystem in volcanic environments is inhabited by active bacteria. To know whether this result could be extrapolated to other Antarctic glaciers and to study the populations of microeukaryotes in addition to those of bacteria, a study was performed using ice samples from eight glaciers in the South Shetland archipelago. The identification of microbial communities of bacteria and microeukaryotes using 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA high throughput sequencing showed a great diversity when compared with microbiomes of other Antarctic glaciers or frozen deserts. Even the composition of the microbial communities identified in the glaciers from the same island was different, which may be due to the isolation of microbial clusters within the ice. A gradient in the abundance and diversity of the microbial communities from the volcano (west to the east) was observed. Additionally, a significant correlation was found between the chemical conditions of the ice samples and the composition of the prokaryotic populations inhabiting them along the volcanic gradient. The bacteria that participate in the sulfur cycle were those that best fit this trend. Furthermore, on the eastern island, a clear influence of human contamination was observed on the glacier microbiome.